Dental appliance



E. E. DU P. WOISARD.

l y DENTALARPLm|\1cE.`l APPLICATION FILED FEB. l, 1921.

- Patented- Apr. 12, 1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DENTAL VAIEPILLANCE.v

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 12, 19721.

Application filed February 1,1921'. Serial No. 441,631.`

To all whom/z5 may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDGAR E. DUPONT `vilicitano, a citizen oftheUnited States, residing at Pittston, in the county ot Luzerne and StateL of lennsylvania, Vhave invented certain .new and useful Improvements in Dental i-ippliancesg and l do hereby declare the following tobey a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it apportains to malte and use the same.

rlhis invention relates to new and useful improvements in dental appliances, and more particularly to a holder for use in retaining in position upon the face the rubber dam which is generally used by dentists for preventing saliva or any other moisture from coming in contact with the teeth upon which the dentist may r`be working. y

ylhe main object of this invention is the provision ot an appliance ot thev above charactor which will eliminate thek use of the well-known rubber dam weights, and also to provide means adapted to engage the lone?.` jaw ci the patient in prostheticworlr so that the operator can assure the taking ot a correct bite by a lpatient when making an iiipression with wax or other material of this character. Y

Another object of the present invention is the provision oit an' appliance of this chan actor which can bey applied to the head of the patient and used without the rubber dara for supporting several instruments [which the operator may be using, such asl mouth mirrors, mouth lamp, lip depressors and other small articles of this character so that theyy may be readily a cessible to the operator, for use in connection with the patient upon which the operator may be working.

@Vith the above andother objects in view, the invention consists in the novel features oi construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully set ttorth, pointed out in the claims and shown in the accompanying .drawings in which;

Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating my improved dentalappliance in position, and

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device removed.

ln carrying out my invention I provide two side plates generally indicated by the numeral l., said plates being shaped to conterm to the outlines of the face at a point preferably in front of the ear and including` a body, portion havingan arm. 2' projecting at right angles from the .plate at the upper end thereof, and a second arm 3 arranged in spaced relation with the arm 2 vand preferably curvedl outwardly from" the lower end f `of the. plate l as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2.

It. willbe noted that the plate 3 is provided with a curvature adapted to conformtothe outlln'efoty the Jaw so that wheny the two plates are placed in position upon opposite sides of the plate,'they will contornato the general outline of a patients face and fit` tached tofthe arm andthe other end yieldingly engaging the arms, any suitable form of fastening clip may be, used to detachably connect kthe rubber damto the outer ends of thefarms. f y n j yIn order to retain the plates l in position f upon the face of the wearer andi retain the rubber dam L in its' respective position, the plates are connected by means of a tape 6,

the ends of Vwhich are secured to.' the body portion ofthe plates l rwhile the intermediate portion embraces the head of the patient as shown in Fig. l and I wish it to be understood that this tape may be made of an elastic or non-,elastic'material.

)Attached to the outer taceot each of the plates l is a tubular member 7 in which vis instable within the tube 7 and retained in various adiusted positions by means of the panying drawings that the tube 7 is illus trated ascylindrical in forni but any other shape of tube can be used equally aswell.

V `Pivo'tally' connected to the lower end of the rod 8 is a curved bar 10, the inner end `slidably mounted a rod 8, said rod being ad y Lset screw 9. It will be noted in the accoinn to conform to the shape of the lower jaw and provided at its outer end with the chin engaging members 12. lt will be noted in Fig. l that the two bars 10 arranged on opposite sides of the face of the patient `are placed in position adjacent the lower jaw and the chin members or pads 12 are arranged so as to engage the chin of the patient either underneath or in front and are securely fastened together by means of the hook 1B and the eye 14 so as to retain the bars 10 in their respective positions after being adjusted by the operator.

ylhe bars 10 are also provided with vjaw supporting plates 15 which may be attached to the intermediate portions of the bars 10 in any suitable manner and project inwardly as shown in Fig. 2 to engage beneath the lower jaw. The bars 10 are also provided with suitable spring clips 16 adapted to engage the lower edge of the rubber dam 4 to assist the side members in retaining the darn in position.

- While l have shown and described this appliance as particularly used for retaining a rubber dani in position upon the face of the patient, I wish`it to be understood that the same can be used equally as well for supporting various tools 0r articles which the operator may be using upon the patient by engaging the tools or articles with the curved bars 10, suitable means can be provided whereby these tools or articles mentioned above can be detachably connected to this bar so that they may be readily accessible to the operator and can becquiclrly and readily removed when` it is Adesired'to use them or replaced after having finished with them. It will also be noted that the rubber dam holder which includes the side plates provided with the arms 2 and 3 can beused without the bars 1.0 as the bars can be readily detached from the plates by releasing the rods 8 through the medium of the screws 9.

lf found convenient, the plates 15 can be readily joined together by having the two strap members 17 attached to the plates and the inner ends of said straps suitably connected beneath the lower jaw by means of the buckle 18.

I claim:

1.' A dental appliance including plate members, means for retaining said plates in position on opposite sides of the face of a person, spaced arms extending outwardly from said plates, clips attached. to the outer ends of said arms, curved bars adjustably connected to said plates and spring clips carried by said bars.

2. A dental appliance including plate members, means for retaining said plates in position upon opposite sides of the face of the person, curved bars adjustably connected to said plates, means for detachably connecting the outer' ends of said bars at a position adjacent the chin of the person.

3. A device of the class described including plate members, means for securing said plates in position upon opposite sides of the face of a person, tubular members secured to the outer faces of said plates, curved bars arranged in juxtaposition with the lower jaw 'of the person and having their inner ends adjustably connected to said tubular members and means for connecting the outer ends of said bars at a point adjacent the chin of the person.

4. A device of the class described including plate members, means for connecting said plate members, tubular members attached to the outer faces of said plates, connecting rods adjustably within said tubular members and curved bars having their inner ends pivotally connected to said rods and -their outer ends connected at a point adjacent the chin of the person.'

5. A device of the class described including plates adapted to be arranged upon opposite sides of the face of a person, means for securing said plates in their respective positions, tubular members attached to the inner ends of said bars to the tubular members, chin pads formed lat the outer ends of said bars and means for detachably connecting the chin pads together at a position adjacent the chin of the person.

6. The combination with side plates, means for retaining said plates in position upon opposite sides of the face of a person, spaced arms extending outwardly from said plates, clips attached to the outer ends of said arms, of curved bars adjustably connected to said plates and spring clips carried by said bars as and for the purpose set forth.

7. A dental appliance including side plates positioned upon opposite sides of the face of the person, tubular members attached to the outer face of said plates and curved bars pivotally and adjustably con- 

